The Book Report - celebrating the great reads from old favorites to the best hot new writers. I mostly read fantasy, but let's face it--I love to read every genre and I only review what I love!

Friday, September 14, 2012

A Storm in Tormay, by Christopher Bunn

A Storm in Tormay is a compilation of a three-book series. The first section, The
Hawk and His Boy by indie author Christopher Bunn is book one of The Tormay
Series, all three of which are comprised in this book. The tale opens with an
orphan boy, Jute, undertaking a ‘chimney’ job for his cruel master, The
Juggler. He climbs the wall, using his skills to quiet the wards on the wall. He
is worried, because the Knife of the Thieves Guild has insisted he do this job,
and only a fool would refuse The Knife anything.
Jute wonders why The Knife needs a child for this job, since children were not
real thieves, only cut-purses and pickpockets.

He senses the object he seeks in the dark house somehow
‘knows’ him, a thing that intrigues him as he has no idea of his real name or
where he really belongs; only that he is an orphan and bound to The Juggler, an
unsavory, greedy abusive thief. The box calls to him so clearly he hears it as if someone had
spoken his name. The box was the length of his forearm, made of black oak and
fastened with a catch and hinges of silver.A carving of a lifelike hawk, his head staring right at Jute, with the
moon and sun rising behind it completed the box.Despite having been threatened with death if
he did so, Jute opens the box. What he finds is an old knife, which seems to be
nothing special. He accidentally cuts himself, and sucks the blood away as it
wells from his finger. When he closes the box, the carving is no longer
lifelike, nothing but a crude carving at best.

Terrified at what he has done, he flees the room. After
giving the box to The Knife, the assassin pushes Jute over the edge of the
chimney, a failed effort to kill him. Injured, he wakes up with the owners of
the house trying to decide what punishments to inflict on his pain-wracked
body.

Ronan of Aum, called ‘The Knife’. He holds no malice toward
the boy, indeed he feels a bit sorry for him, but he has a job to do. He just
wants to earn enough money to escape the city of Hearne and the Thieves Guild.

The Duke of Mizra has asked for the hand of a young
noblewoman who is so much more than an ordinary woman, Levoreth.Besides her obvious secret, she has a mysterious
talent for melding her mind with the horses, causing her stablemen to consider
her with awe.

Fen, a girl who ‘knows things’ has narrowing escaped the
slaughter of her entire family by a creature of evil, becoming horribly injured
in the process.She is rescued by
traders, passing through her family’s land.

Nio, the dark wizard who owns the box, pries the information
of who had arranged for the theft out of Jute, and then gives him to his
horrible creature to kill, but The Voice in Jute’s head helps save his life.
Using magic he doesn’t really understand, but believes he does, Nio has created
a creature of magic, called a wihitt,
whichsomething between a Golem and a
demon. He created it from Darkness and the Four Elements to be his servant, and
fed it with his own blood. He used it to get information on The Juggler and
Ronan, The Knife. The wihitt frightens him somewhat, and he plans to unmake it.

Nio is one of four scholars who seek knowledge of the Gerecednes,
a lost book written by a people known to have great knowledge and power over
the elements.One of the other scholars, Severan,
knows Nio is up to no good and that he wants Jute. Severan finds Jute and takes
him to the ruins of the university to hide him from all who now seek him and
want him dead.

The threads of these characters are woven together to form a
tapestry which is compelling and absorbing. This is a deep tale, and is
frequently heart-rending.Bunn’s
narrative is reminiscent of Tad Williams’s style, making this series an immersive
experience to read.I highly recommend
buying the compilation at the outset, because once you have begun reading this
series, you won’t be able to stop.

2 comments:

Connie, thank you for such a kind and unexpected review! I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and I'm honored by the Tad Williams comparison. I hope my site wasn't too full of meanderings and mumblings (very self-indulgent place for me).